Tag Archives: roger king

Roger King, the multi-talented musician and engineer has, among other projects been working with Steve Hackett now for more than 20 years. King had the enviable task of joining Hackett and a number of select peers to reinterpret Genesis songs originally composed and recorded between 1971 and 1977. These were released as two collections since the time he’s been on board. This King did while also recording and performing compelling new material with Hackett and his band, taking all this out on the road. For any fan of Genesis, the fact that the band’s 70’s era guitarist has been dusting off these vaulted classics and presenting them live is continuing cause for celebration. At this point, just about every worthy track Hackett graced during his time with Genesis has been resurrected on record and/or in concert. Through it all, the enduring guitarist’s own band has become a finely honed outfit, and the live shows have been absolutely fantastic – I was privileged to see the complete set at the Royal Albert Hall, and have attended several gigs since, including last year’s mix of Genesis and solo classics –Alcolyte to Wolflight. Roger King was a fixture of these shows throughout, a key component of the band and it’s unique sound.

Keyboard player Andrew Colyer (Circuline) and I had the chance to sit down and have a short talk with King on the recent Cruise to the Edge festival while on calm seas in the Gulf of Mexico. King began a musical journey in his youth as church organist, studying piano from an early age, then gaining a degree in music and sound engineering at University of Surrey in the UK. We started by asking about his early work as sound engineer and player, and how he became part of Steve Hackett’s band:

I recorded a lot of demos for Island records in the UK and did a lot of film work – some with Trevor Jones – maybe 5 or 6 years working on some fairly high profile movies as a keyboard-playing sound engineer. I did a lot of work on house mixes – 126bpm stomping remixes for the London club scene, which you can see as unlikely and it was but you fall into these things don’t you? It’s as a jobbing engineer.

I had a manager at that time who did a mail shot to potential employers as I lived in Twickenham in greater London. She happened upon a management company there who by chance was Steve’s then manager so I landed on their map as a local engineer and they just happened to be looking for someone so I got the call – this was back in 1995. I knew about Steve and Genesis, and had seen Steve in Guildford in Surrey when I was at University. Peter Gabriel and Mike Rutherford turned up so it was a nice gig to have seen!

As anyone who has seen the band live or collected the DVDs or recordings knows, the music of Genesis is given new life on these outings. As had been the case back when these songs were first played live, the music comes alive in concert. There is precision to the performances, along with some room for interpretation. It’s a beautiful near-contradiction – an updated sound that still hones closely to the spirit and letter of the original works – a pleasure for fans and newcomers alike. The accomplished band now includes Gary O’Toole (drums, percussion and vocals), Rob Townsend (winds, percussion), Nick Beggs (bass and paraphernalia), Nad Sylvan (vocals), and Roger King (keyboards).

Roger’s performance is a critical part of making the original Genesis material sound so amazing 40-plus years after it was originally created. Given Tony Banks was such a precise player with such an identifiable sound, one who stayed close to recorded originals, we asked Roger about preparing to play these Genesis classics live. How does he find the right sounds to deploy when preparing for the recordings and tours – how balance vintage and modern technology?

It was quite a bit of work. Tony wasn’t particularly a technophile; he used what was in front of him. Yet you hear things he created such as the enormous strings sound on “The Fountain of Salmacis,” that I could never get anywhere near. He had and has a strong sensibility for sound – a powerful sonic signature to follow. And it’s a lot of work to try and get somewhere near it because those instruments – the Hammond, the Pro Soloist, and Mellotron themselves have such strong sonic signatures and characters.

I used an analog synth plug in – the U-He Diva that I’m really fond of in addition to their semi modular synth Ace which enables you to do some of the things – it’s the character I want really, rather than being as accurate to the original as possible. I’m not a nostalgia freak; it’s the character of the sounds that brings the original live in my memory. For example, we’re doing “One for the Vine” on this tour. It’s interesting to listen to the album version and live version, and see that live in 1977 most of the song is missing from the keyboard perspective because you couldn’t do it then, and yet we can to a greater extent cover the arrangements today. It’s a lovely song to play; it’s a terrific composition.

This seemed the moment to gush a bit about the quality of the performances and the audience response to these shows. The Genesis Revisited and Wolflight to Acolyte concerts were very special, and we asked Roger if he has a sense of how well they have been coming off – if he’s noticed the reaction to standout moments such as the coda to “Shadow of the Hierophant.” He is typically humble:

We’ve grown as a band, blessed with some top of class musicians. When you’re playing, using in-ear monitors, to a certain extent you’re divorced from what the audience is getting for the sake of clarity and saving your hearing and all the rest of it, but yeah I listen back to the live stuff occasionally and think “that’s okay yeah” (smiles) and there are bits of things we play where I was thinking when we first approached it, like some of the Wolflight material, well how are we going to do this live, it’s going to be a stripped back thing. Now I kind of prefer the live performances in a way, there is a bit more vitality.

I have to say we are blessed with a world class front house engineer and the other technical guys – they are unbelievably good so they should take a lot of the credit – they’re really part of the band. We do need and have a front house engineer Ben Fenner who also acts as a kind of producer so he’s able to say to me or anyone else on stage – “that sound you make there, can we change it, or can you change the balance of your keyboards or what about playing a C there instead of a D” because he gets the big picture and we don’t – you have to have somebody you can trust who can guide you in these things as well – we’re hugely fortunate.

The coda to “Shadow…” is something we almost always play – it’s a simple piece of music but because it’s so loud and gets bigger and bigger so it does go down well. Steve enjoys playing it, just to make a din really, and give Gary a chance to let himself go – it’s almost, no exactly, like a drum solo!

One of the follow up discussion points is about the emotional connection to this music. Roger shares that he is able to keep from the distraction of being emotionally overwhelmed by the swelling strings and quiet sentimental parts he’s playing – noting that while in the chair there is real focus. Plus, to really get at his core, he has to spin some original classical music. What’s his favorite music and how does he bring that to bear working with Steve and also with Nick Beggs in The Mute Gods? What’s coming up on both of these fronts?

My favorite is Twentieth Century orchestral music. Once upon a time playing the organ meant that Bach became central to my record collection. I really like Stravinski, Messian, Lutoslowski – all these huge orchestral works. Sometimes I get to visit the classics – for instance the new Mute Gods album is out now Tardigrades Will Inherit The Earth. Nick said “I’d like to start it off with a funeral march, do you fancy writing a funeral march?” Funny way to start an album, we’ll just get all the death stuff over with! And it is a pretty doom-laden album as it happens. I thought, fantastic I can write something like a bit of Lutoslawski! There is a terrific piece of music, one of my favorite pieces by that composer called “Funereal Music” and I wanted to write something like that. It was great fun to get the orchestral chops polished a little bit.

When I work with Steve, the basic structure of the songwriting is established as he comes up with the tunes. He might say to me “these are the chords, and I’ve got the tune, but Id like these bars to be orchestral.” So I roll up my sleeves and have a go at it. Parts of it work naturally live; others are a bit of work. At the end of recording, you’re presented with hundreds of tracks from the studio with layer upon layer of sound, and you look to make it work in concert as one keyboard player!

The next Steve Hackett album The Night Siren is just coming out in March. Best to ask Steve about it, but I would say it’s a natural follow on from Wolflight – maybe Son of Wolflight! It has many of the same characteristics in the songwriting and production. In many ways we’ve built on that, and included some international musicians. We are already playing some of it (on the cruise) and are looking forward to taking it out on the tour.

Given all that Roger is bringing to these projects for Steve Hackett and The Mute Gods, the natural question is, will we be hearing any Roger King solo material?

Nick is already talking about a third Mute Gods album, on an almost daily basis! And I know Steve will be saying he’s got some new things. My wife is encouraging me to do it – I’ve got people I can work with who are terrific, who are offering to make contributions, now its just a matter of time and energy, but expect it one day!

Let’s hope for that day to come. In the mean time, catch Roger during the next leg of Steve Hackett’s Night Siren tour, booked thus far in Europe and the U.K. from March to May, and watch for any gigs by The Mute Gods.

I’ve always had an abiding affection for the band Genesis. I was the guy in high school who scrawled Genesis Rules on my notebooks, that was called Mr. Genesis when addressing yearbook entries. Part of this fascination with the band was the fact that none of us in my circle of friends got to see them before original vocalist and flutist Peter Gabriel left. There was a mystique about that era, scraps of articles about the theatrical stage craft, the costumes, and the overwhelming majesty of their concerts. All our friends who were a bit older and saw them before 1976 talked about the experience in reverential terms, as if they had gone to an evangelical event and would never be the same afterward. Finally, on March 24, 1977, after a long four years being a collector and fan, I saw the Wind & Wuthering tour at the Los Angeles Forum with drummer and second vocalist Phil Collins at the helm. It was my first opportunity to see Genesis perform in concert and it was transformative in every way.

I’ve seen every member of the band since that time, on every tour, together or apart, and besides Peter Gabriel, guitarist Steve Hackett has been the one ex-band member to carry the music of Genesis forward for new and old audiences alike. Steve Hackett continued to compose, record and perform work exploring the same musical territory as his alma mater, while gaining new ground, continuing to keep the expressive mix of classical, blues and rock motifs alive and ever changing. Three of his first solo albums made it to record stores before the end of the 70s, with more than a dozen solo albums and collaborations following over the next several decades. In addition, Hackett’s work is surprisingly well documented via audio recordings and videos. None of the other ex-members of Genesis officially recorded and released concert films during the 70s.

Hackett recorded his first solo album Voyage of the Acolyte just weeks after the last date on the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway tour in 1975 and at the same time the remaining members of Genesis were working on their first post-Gabriel recording. The album sounds quite a bit like Genesis, even sporting some material that the band had auditioned but rejected. The standout tracks are the rocking opener “Ace of Wands” and the closer – the beautiful, haunting “Shadow of the Hierophant” which ends in a doom-laden coda that would have perfectly fit his old band. Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins both play on the record, Phil lending his golden vocals to another standout track “Star of Sirius.”

Hackett’s second record released after leaving Genesis, Please Don’t Touch (1978) is something of a transitional work, with the guitarist trying out several different styles including rock, prog, and jazz. Guest vocalist Steve Walsh (Kansas) lent his powerful pipes to two songs, while Richie Havens and Randy Crawford recorded softer, lovely tones for three others. The track “Icarus Ascending” is truly one of Hackett’s most beautiful songs, graced by Havens’ gravelly, warm vocals. The title track is a standout, apparently offered to Genesis by Hackett for inclusion on the Wind & Wuthering album, but rejected. It’s a tour de force highlighting his assertive playing and ability to switch rapidly between keys and meters. Ultimately this second album is an amalgam of styles, unique in Hackett’s repertoire – the artist exploring new sounds.

On his third album, Spectral Mornings (1979) Hackett truly found that new sound, a more modern adaptation of the style he pioneered. The album features lush harmonies juxtaposed with occasional nightmarish passages, many featuring his trademark tapping technique, one that influenced many musicians to come. A long and fruitful career had truly begun.

Hackett assembled a new band and launched his first tour in 1978, performing songs from his first two solo albums, along with a few new songs that would see the light of day on Spectral Mornings the next year. Performers included his brother John Hackett (flute), Pete Hicks (vocals) Dik Cadbury (bass), Nick Magnus (keyboards) and John Shearer (drums), all of who would continue with Hackett for his defining releases Spectral Mornings (1979) and Defector (1980). The films on the DVD were taken on November 8th, 1978 during the last dates on that tour. The transfer shows off footage that is crisp and clear for it’s time, with rich color saturation, well timed edits, and dynamic audio in stereo or 5.1 surround sound. Though heavily edited for German television at the time, the complete set was remastered and re-sequenced for this transfer, giving today’s collector a chance to see what the whole performance was like. It’s an amazing, rare film that belongs in any fan’s collection.

LATEST TOUR

Steve Hackett continues to produce accomplished new music to this day, which he performs enthusiastically with his latest band. As mentioned, he’s the only former Genesis band member who includes their 1970s songs in his set list, even playing a show made up exclusively of those classics, as part of his Genesis Revisited albums and tours. This year, he has been back out on tour performing songs from his latest album Wolflight, along with gems from his solo career, and a set of Genesis classics. Dubbed literally as Acolyte to Wolflight with Genesis Revisited, the tour promised to be a career-spanning night to remember.

We caught the show at the Warfield Theater this month for an absolutely fantastic evening of music. I don’t know how to say this without sounding hyperbolic, but I’ve seen this artist every single time he’s come to California since 1976, and this was the best sounding, most authoritative performance I’ve ever seen him deliver. The first set was composed of Hackett’s solo material, leading off with the title track from Spectral Mornings. The solo set that followed was rich and varied. The Wolflight material came across more impressively than any new material I’ve seen him perform over the years. “Out Of The Body,” the follow-up title track, and “Love Song to a Vampire” were overwhelming in their power and beauty. It’s amazing to find an artist who’s been at work this many years still crafting songs of this quality. Also notable, Hackett’s singing has grown in strength over these many years, the songs crafted to focus on multi-part harmonies to the point now where I believe he is one of our greatest singing guitarists.

After an intermission, Hackett continued with a set of Genesis classics, all Gabriel-era, including a number of tracks not heard in ages, “Get ‘Em Out by Friday,” “Can-Utility And The Coastliners,” and, wait for it, a tear-jerking absolutely faithful rendition of “After The Ordeal,” an instrumental I always felt captured the heart of what was so inspiring about Hackett-era oft pastoral Genesis music. Nad Sylvan was in perfect voice, as usual; adding his dramatic, soulful delivery to what are, let’s be honest, very challenging songs to sing. This time out, Roine Stolt (Flower Kings, Transatlantic) played bass and additional guitars, joining stalwarts Roger King (keys), Gary O’Toole (drums, vocals), Rob Townsend (winds, percussion).

The most memorable moments for me were the rare songs Hackett chose from his early work, “Star of Sirius” from Voyage, and “Icarus Ascending” from Touch. I don’t think words can describe how perfectly these songs were delivered, how right it was to have Nad interpreting vocals originally recorded by Phil Collins and Richie Havens in his own richly drawn theatrical style. To end this half of the show, haunting, dynamic arrangements of “Ace of Wands,” “A Tower Struck Down,” and the coda of “Shadow of the Hierophant” left the audience enraptured. And, above all, Steve Hackett was simply on fire. This performance illuminated the groundbreaking work of a career that has now spanned more than 45 years. It served to remind one and all how potent and innovative this artist’s work has been through the years, and how emotionally impactful it is to witness the songs performed live in concert. Okay, and it didn’t hurt that I got to go back stage, meet Jo, the band, and Steve himself to tell him so!

Special thanks this week to photojournalist Matt Bolender / CC Rock for providing the photos seen herein… and to my beautiful wife for catching Steve signing my commemorative cd/dvd set from the Royal Albert Hall Genesis Revisited show. I left my camera at home that night!